Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

November #FMSphotoADay compilation post

“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."

                -- Clyde Watson

Hi, everybody.

This is the eleventh Fat Mum Slim photo-a-day for 2012 compilation party here on Amanda Rose blog, and it's okay...you could be excited.  I haven't yet finished the last four days of it, but I plan to before today's end.  I'll come back and post 'em here, and if you're reading this for the first time years from now, all this text will seem like rambling. :)

On the the party...

Day 1: so much leftover Halloween candy because Sandy swept Halloween away from us this year
Day 2: the red color of my cup told me Starbs is as excited for Christmastime as I am (...was?)
Day 3: coffee and crafts was my early breakfast that day
Day 4: T-Dog and Lori bit the dust on The Walking Dead :'(

Day 5: first 'real' day back since Sandy hit, and I was all like, "What am I teaching these kids?"
Day 6: sitting at the table with my closest, safe from the nor'easter, laughing and eating ♥
Day 7: clean and comfy reflection
Day 8: lay with these boops and get loved by them

Day 9: Happy Birthday to me! the small sentiments written in these cards made a BIG impact
Day 10: can't live without gas in my car...waited on lines to get some...odd or even plate?
Day 11: Sunday nights are for The Walking Dead...duh!
Day 12: hot tea for me on this Monday

Day 13: I slept under my floral IKEA painting over my bed
Day 14: my aMANda-made bulletin board was a hit at parent-teacher conferences
Day 15: wallet, keys, To-Do list, chapstick (not pictured), and iPhone (not pictured)
Day 16: the view of NYC from my classroom window makes me wanna fly there

Day 17: this New Year's dress...now all I need is New Year's plans
Day 18: an autumn walk in the park
Day 19: the typewriter-adoption of Dora
Day 20: workin' on Project Life / playin' with washi tape

Day 21: wore cement-color booties
Day 22: Thanksgiving came and went, but my favorite part was Claudia filling my wine glass up
Day 23: we went in to Christmas-decorating mega mode on Black Friday
Day 24: I started #mileaday and heard my feet walking through fallen leaves

Day 25: early evening November sky
Day 26: plenty of spices in my cupboard...hee hee...I said 'cupboard'...:P

Day 27: our tree -- a kitty's view
Day 28: commute on a Wednesday morning...ick and ick
Day 29: My, grandma, what big eyes you have!
Day 30: on the wall/beam of the subway station

Adios, Novemb!

--------------

#FMSphotoaday is ending in a bang (snap!) with
December's list!
It begins tomorrow.
Make sure you tweet/instagram your images with
the hashtag #FMSphotoaday.

Will you be taking the challenge?

Follow me on Instagram to see my 'playing along' daily,
or come back December 31st
to have another compilation party here with me.

See my past months of photo-play:

 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

Thanks for stopping by!

first few days of my DecDaily2012

I decided to start my December Daily from Thanksgiving, and do it all the way until New Year's.

Here's Thanksgiving - November 22:

My [I ate this.] Yum. stamp is sold out at the moment from Amanda Rose's STAMP SHOP, and will be restocked with the release of my New Year's stamps in the next weeks.

-------------------------
Black Friday - November 23rd:

Home, home, and home.
You won't ever see me out in the crazy on Black Friday. 

We went all-out Christmas decorating...anythin to get my mind off it.

---------------------
Saturday, November 24th:

Shrunk this in PSE, and adhered it to the back of a paper strip.

...and there you have it so far, folks.

If you've started your December Daily already, I'd love to see it!

Link to it in the comments.

Off to a field trip today!

 

This weekend...

This weekend started with a phone call that pretty much sealed the deal: we are not in a good place.

This weekend was Thanksgiving, and I sat there surrounded by close family, but all alone, and wishing I was with him.

This weekend was mostly spent at home, in what's becoming a very toxic house.

This weekend I drowned myself in Christmas decorating, and whilst doing so, found the above ornament in our Christmas box.  Our relationship is in a lot of trouble, readers. The heart wants what the heart wants, and sometimes it wants a situation with their lover more than it wants the lover themselves.  That's where we are.  That's where we've been for a long long time. There is no more patience in my other.  He is done with me.  Done waiting, done biding time, done being stuck in the in between with me.

This weekend was the deadline, I suppose.

This weekend I ran.  I ran to save my soul, it seemed.

This weekend, I tried to salvage something that was made up of magical, magnificant moments...only to realize maybe just those moments don't add up to enough for me.

This weekend I was sad, happy, content, confused, smiling, crying, distracted, procrastinating, frustrated, spontaneous, regretful, overwhlemed, collected, and then depressed again.

...and here you have me,
writing this to you this morning.

Tomorrow I'm coming to you with my December Daily so far.

No doubt you'll see echoes of the above throughout the pages.

But such is my current truth.
I hope you can appreciate that.

Enjoy your Sundays, loves.

a good little x-mas MEME for DecDaily

Okay, first off, what is a MEME?  I looked it up, and I found the definition:

meme/mēm/

    (noun) - An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from
one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.

Oh, okay.

Now I get it.  (Sorta.)

I got the Christmas MEME below from here.

Here't goes...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate, hands down.  

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

He wraps 'em, I wrap 'em, we all wrap'em.  Cute paper's where it's at!

 

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

Little bit'o both.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

I did last year. See here.

5. When do you put your decorations up? 

Usually the first week of December, but I'm so in the Christmas mood this year, it might be today or tomorrow.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

Stuffed aritchokes. They are our fall/winter delicacy.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

 Playing with the figurines in our nativity set...pretending that they were Bo Peep and TomTom from March of the Wooden soldiers.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 

 I don't remember how I learned the truth, but I think when was in 7th or 8th grade.  

Yeah...I believed for a long long time, and then was in denial for about two years.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

 Yes. Always have. Just one...or two. ;P

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

 No theme, no consistency...just years worth of collected ornaments and multicolored lights.

...and no more tinsel b/c we have kitty boops.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

 Love it when I'm off work and it first falls.  Hate it when I have work and it's old and dirty.

12. Can you ice skate?

 Yes. Take me, please?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

Yes.  I was in 6th grade, I wanted to be Storm from X-Men, and under the tree was an X-men Movie Maker computer game.  I believe I was a hermit in the computer room the whole rest of that year's Christmas vacation.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

The time spent with people you love.  It's so hard to get together regularly, and the holidays are designated 'be with loved ones' days. ♥ ♥

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

My tiramisu, and biscotti...for dipping in coffee and tea.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

I love the making and mailing of our Christmas card each year, the trip to Rockafellar Center to see the tree with friends, and as of last year I love the idea of Christmas Karaoke.  I look forward each Christmas to making holiday traditions with my own future family.

17. What tops your tree?

It's been a star these past years.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?

I love giving a gift that I know the reciever will love, but I hate the pressure of needing to give gifts.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

The smell: YUM.

20. Favorite Christmas movie?

Home Alone.

21. Saddest Christmas Song?

Christmas Shoes.

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?

December by Norah Jones,

Something About December by Christina Perri,

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,

Love is Christmas by Sarah Barrilles, to name a few.

--------------------------------------------------

If you decided to start your December Daily project before December starts to document the holiday season, and not just the month, then the list above might be a great way to kick it off. 

I'd love to read your answers, so if you do the MEME on your blog or December Daily, link to in the comments.  

ThankYouLoveYouBye.

Happy Saturday.

|week 46| my *Project Life* album

|Week 46| kicked off with my Birthday Brunch.

The whole left side was dedicated to it:

I filled the right side with little happenings from the week.
...and then quickly journaled right on the photos:

Pretty basic. Did you notice my insert about my student, John? Yeah...he had a rough week, which made me have a rough week.  PLing it all is my release. ...my Woo-Sah. Love it. 

I'd like to also note that this is the last spread of 2012 to be worked on without coinciding December Daily page(s) to be worked on as well.  It'll be interesting to see how the next few weeks of PL and DD flesh out.

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

For more of my past Project Life spreads, go HERE.

For more on Project Life itself, go HERE.

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Happy BLACK Friday.

(I'll be home, toasty and crafting.)

me too.

Hi, and Happy Thanksgiving, loves.

I wanted to write a quick post this morning
before the hustle of Thanksgiving prep starts up.

I wanted to say...

I'm grateful for the people who love me.
I'm grateful for all those I will be with today,
physically and in my heart too.

I'm grateful for good food and sunlight pouring through our living room window.

I wanted to post a smiling picture of myself because I'm a little heartbroken this morning.
It's not something I want to go into right now, but it's my truth.
I'm going to smile anyway today, I know it.

I'm so incredibly grateful for my many reasons to smile.

I wanted to say a very public, typed, and published thank you.

a short little typewriter adoption story

If you blog it, it will come.  ;)

I blogged about heading to Gramercy Typewriter in NYC and that's just what I did yesterday to pick up my new toy.  Visions of clickclacking my December Daily away have been dancing in my head since October-turned-November.  What came next? I made plans.  I got there.

It really is the sweetest sweetest little spot.  Paul, the owner, was very cordial.  He showed me how to use it and allowed me to try.  At first, I was eying a brown and green Royal like this one, but it was a tad out of my price range.  Then he pulled Dora from the shelves, and that was it.  In my price range, with change to spare...she's a sweet grey and black...was already equipped with a name tag...not too heavy...just a perfect match. :)

Dora is tucked cozy in my sweet pink craftroom, and I'm a giddy goose.

Have a happy Tuesday.
I've got tiramisu to make tonight.
...and maybe some typing to do. 

Let's get to Thursday. ;)

snow & birthday |week 45| my *Project Life* album

Getting this week completed was hard.  So busy busy. I'm pining for Thanksgiving to be here already. Teacher work is driving me nuts.  I had to put down Project Life to tend to copying worksheets and the such many times this week.  
However, I got 'er done.  Not my best styled week, but got 'er done.

|Week 45| in my world was my 28th birthday week.

It was filled with a new roomie in my little cousin, the killing of T-Dog and Lori on The Walking Dead (OMG!), the first few days back to school (felt like coming back from Summer), a nasty nor'easter that gave my neighborhood 13 inches of snow, a Chinese food dinner, and fun birthday things.

the left side:

the middle half-insert made up of my Birthday Eve and my Birthday day:

That chalkboard thought-bubble is officially a birthday morning tradition. See last year.

the right side:

I hope that oldest story isn't my story.  It feels a little like that right now in my life, but knowing that it does, I'm going to make FULL WHOLE-HEARTED DECISIONS on future life happenings...I want to stear my own ship, not let it drift on the waves...

...and gas lines.  

I never realized before this week how crucial gas is to living.  Having to wait on 10, 15, 45, 60, 120+ minute lines for gas this week was KAH-RAZY!  It effected everywhere I went.  It effected everyone I knew.  It was scary.  Glad it's passed.

There you have it.  I hope to catch up and have |week 46| done in the next couple days.
Bring it to you when I do.  

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

For more of my past Project Life spreads, go HERE.

For more on Project Life itself, go HERE.

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Take care. Be Safe. Watch The Walking Dead.

my most popular bulletin board & updated teacher-thoughts

I don't know what it is about my current bulletin board, but the peeps in my school are LOVIN' it!!

It probably most definitly is because of the drawings the kids made of themselves in art class.  The art teacher 'let me have 'em' and what better place could I find for them to go except next to their personal narratives?  Haa haa!

Now, for MY UPDATED THOUGHTS on BEING A TEACHER AND TEACHING for those of you who know my thoughts about it from last year:

I started this year much stronger than I started last year since my immense naivity led me astray last year.  This year, I was much more wise and ready for the crazy.  I am more organized, and got better at having things in place to keep my sanity.  Even my group of kiddos this time around flow and mesh and work better.  I kinda dig them...although...liking/loving/dealing with the kids has never been the problem.

I'm not as ruled by complete and utter fear and anxiety like last year, although almost everyday I start off with it.  WHAT TO TEACH these kids is still a problem.  Like, a major problem.  There are no programs in place from which to teach from...only concepts that we teachers are supposed to make the kids know, but no explaination/resources with which to have them learn with.  It's up to us to create the explanation, and up to us to scrounge for the resources, but at the end of our already long day, WHAT TEACHER HAS THE TIME TO CREATE and SCROUNGE?!?!

Finished pieces like the ones above and the great quality of work I get the kids to do ONE DAY AT A TIME are shimmers of light in a system that is mostly dark and confusing.

I know I'm good at and have a fondness for teaching, but I still don't love being teacher in the New York City Department of Eduation.  At this point in my life, however, I am grateful for this job.  I get smiley knowing my 10 kiddos think I'm a cool lady, and I feel honored to serve them in the way that I do.  I know it's good work, it's just...

...I don't know.

...the twinge of maybe there's more I could do...
...the thought of 'what's next' still lingers in my mind...

...we'll see.

For now, it's all about that bulletin board outside room 413. ;)

around here / Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Thanksgiving is something ridiculous...like NiNE days away or something, right?  

Well, in between now and Thanksgiving time, I'm going to be conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences, (hopefully) buying a typewriter, working on December Daily prep, and taking one moment at a time. 

Lately, I've been struggling to juggle home time with teacher-work time. We had a whole unexpected week off because of Sandy, and quite frankly going back felt like coming back from Summer vacation.  What was I teaching these kids again? 

To top it off, my 16 year old cousin, Claudia has been staying with us for the past week.  She lived in the Rockaways and most of her neighborhood streets are under sand, her school has been closed, and her building had no power.  Hence the last photo.  She shacking up in my room. ;)

I've been trying to keep to a health-schedule (hasn't been successful).  Jogged a bit.  Turned 28.  

Oh, and my New Years stamps.  I've decided not ALL of them in the sneak will be sold. However, I hope to have the ones that I will be selling listed in the shop somewhere in between Black Friday and December 1st. Details to follow. :)

That's about it from around here lately.  Be well, stay safe.